Fair advice for daily commute

[brynbryn]

Hi everyone,

I'm working in Bristol, near to Temple Meads and live in Barry, South Wales. My Daily commute is from Barry Docks train station to Cardiff Central, and then from Cardiff Central to Bristol Temple Meads. I get the 7:45am train from Barry, then the 8:30am train from Cardiff, getting me to Bristol for 9:19am.

I was just wondering if anyone a little more in the know than myself can work out the cheapest option for this daily commute. 5 days a week, I currently pay for a monthly pass from Barry - Bristol Temple Meads, but this is £214.70 a month which is pretty damaging to the wallet (especially considering that it is extremely rare for my return train to be on time, and rarer for there to be seating room available).

I've been trying to look into splitting the fairs between joining stations etc but haven't really had much luck as yet.

I don't know if I would benefit from railcards etc. I'm 24 at present but don't understand if a young persons railcard would help me, or if there are any other options available to get the cost down a little.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Bryn

 

[me123]

Your return (SDR) is £13.60 a day, which is £68 a week and about £272 a month. Considering that, you're not getting a bad deal! Perhaps an annual ticket could cut the price down?

A 16-25 railcard costs £24, but due to the minimum fare restrictions if this the only journey you make, the card wouldn't be useable and you would have wasted your money. Annual (if it is available) would be your best option, I'm afraid.

 

[yorkie]

Your return (SDR) is £13.60 a day, which is £68 a week and about £272 a month. Considering that, you're not getting a bad deal! Perhaps an annual ticket could cut the price down?

A 16-25 railcard costs £24, but due to the minimum fare restrictions if this the only journey you make, the card wouldn't be useable and you would have wasted your money. Annual (if it is available) would be your best option, I'm afraid.

Hang on, why does he need a SDR? A SVR is valid at any time on that route and is priced at £10.55 with a railcard.

 

[me123]

NXEC's site wasn't showing that as being valid :? Anyway, that would save you about £30 or thereabouts (when you consider the cost of the railcard) so that may be aa worthwhile investment.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Accounting for weekends but not holiday entitlement:

22xSVR = 22x£10.55 = £232.10 (average working month for Y-P holder)
1xMonthly = £214.70 (calender month)
1xYearly = £2236.00 (£186.33 per calender month)

 

[brynbryn]

Cheers for all the info fellas
Guessing I'm going to stick with the monthly tickets for the time being.

Thanks again!

 

[Mojo]

Are you getting FGW's 20% discount on your monthly renewals for Punctuality & Reliability?